"A Historical German City" a Mainz Travel Page by hunterV

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In Mainz at last! September 2006

History Alive

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Mainz, the capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, has always attracted me as a city full of history.
I have visited that German province several times. I have been to Altenkirchen County six times, but not a single time to the province capital. The program of stay of the groups from Luhansk, Ukraine, that I accompanied as an interpreter was so busy that our hosts could not allot a whole day for a trip the province capital.
I only got that opportunity during my last visit to Germany in September 2006.
I went to Germany without any group, just by myself, as a representative of Luhansk regional children’s hospital.
My task was to receive the humanitarian aid at the meeting of Altenkirchen County administration from the hands of Franz who had worked there and who had collected a big sum of money as donations from his friends for his birthday party to enable him to buy a very useful device for a Ukrainian hospital. It was a great citizen initiative and I was honored to take an active part in it.
My mission was to receive the device and to deliver it to Luhansk regional children's hospital. I have worked as a part-time translator for that hospital too.
I stayed in Altenkirchen at the house of Franz, a great friend of Luhansk, and one day (thank God!) he took me to Mainz for he had to go there on business.
It was an unforgettable day’s stay in Mainz.

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We arrived to Mainz by car and parked at the Rhine embankment. We began exploring the city from the building of the province parliament.
I admired the old beautiful buildings and saw Mainz cathedral from afar. Before going to the cathedral we had some coffee at “Extrablatt” café in Market Square.
The cathedral itself has a very long history and a lot of memorial places both inside and outside.
We did not go to the World Book Printing Museum, but we approached Johannes Gutenberg monument located opposite the Opera Theater.
Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) invented book printing with removable letters. His great achievement did a good turn to Reformation in Germany when there was a need to spread Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible all over Germany and Europe.

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Many outstanding landmarks are to be seen in the city:
St.Martin’s Cathedral,
St.John’s Church
and other churches,
the former royal palace,
the opera theater.
We had a short walk in the Old Town and managed to see and to take picture of some of them.
I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and tidiness of the streets, stores, monuments, parks and cafes, irreproachable transport service and faultless roads and pavements.
Next time there will be many more places to see and to explore. Let’s hope!

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